Found some m3 luxury seats black in good condition .I got the dough too time to get this going before baby shows its head...Has anyone done this type of swap before? and added a custom seatbelt loop? To save weight and add comfort?
Power seats almost forgot.
:buttrock
Next is aluminum 1 peice drive shaft.
Then Exhaust if it rubs the new drive shaft.
Ending with single Large turbo were the euro thing was on the passenger side.

Our seats were designed for the LONG haul! Are you looking for light weight? If so, I would suggest Corbeau, Recaro or something similar, A third of the weight, Wuffer had a nice set available for our cars. I wish ours were lighter but with all the mechanics involved, I can't complain! Our headrests are just so sweet too! Good luck and please post a pic installed if it's a go.

I´ve noticed mercedes w124 coupe has a seatbelt setup that would look very good (pillarless coupe, place where B pillar would be has a slight extension with the belt coming out). Though I have no idea what lies under the interior trim of the E31 at that place so I don`t know how easily doable it would be.

8 on the seats in my e31 anyway the seats seems too shorts i dont have the type that the cousion slides out like in the set i want.Then theres the weight benifet if all goes well maybe i wont need to revalve my shocks?
Would this be a first???

no noticeable weight benefit. The aluminum driveshaft is another "more exotic than functional" weight savings. The BMW drive shaft isn't that heavy. You need to look at the weight savings as a percentage of total vehicle weight. If you save 100 lbs., that is about 2% which translates to having 14 lbs/hp instead of 14.3 lbs/hp. Can't see that as any noticeable improvement in performance. As for the seats, yes they look nice, but the seats in your 8 are designed as part of a complete restraint system, and I personally wouldn't be screwing around with that, but to each his own...

keep us posted and put some pics up showing the progress.

Would suggest going for the e46 or e9x (92?) convertible seats instead. They got integrated belts, so my guess is that would be an easier swap..

Might be easier - but sounds like a lot of work unless you really (really) like those e46 seats...

i would put the e36 m3 vador seats instead....

i would get some real race car seats instead and ancor the seatbelts, where normal cars have a rear seat .
but the e46 convertible seats would be a good way to go.

if all goes well maybe i wont need to revalve my shocks?
Would this be a first???Not sure on the seats your installing but there's been some changes, Mostly to get the car lighter like the Red 8 in the pics! Not a big gain though! I'm upgrading to the sport seats, I would go the M seats also, I can't change them without upgrading, I would get rid of the cars if i could'nt fit in the oem seats, 8 Seats were the first seats i've seen with the headrests mount looping from the side, I was sold when i first saw them, Not knowing i was getting the second best 7 years later to the overthepond OEM pretty much standard :shiftySport seat's!

i would put the e36 m3 vador seats instead....

I've got a spare set in the garage, but the seat belt is not integrated. Also, for all this talk about weight savings - it's honestly not all that much as has been pointed out. Even if you get get away with NO seats in the cars, you're only saving 150 pounds on a car that weighs 2 tons.
Do it because you want to and enjoy the challenge/process, but don't expect much (if anything) in the way of performance gains.

you are going from 14.3 pounds per horsepower to an amazing 14 pounds per horsepower - geez! I can hardly wait to do ALL that work for that kind of performance gain.....

spend money and time in making the mechaicals reliable, or taking car of the paint.

The guys are right when they say light racing seats are the way to go.

The weight saved if you only did the seats will not amount to a lot.
But if you do seats, batteries, headlights, spare tire, rear seats+etc, exhaust, etc., as I'm slowly doing, I believe it will make a difference when you get down around 12 lbs/HP.

geez....i just trashed some e36 Lux seats out of my 4 door e36 (nobody wanted them)

I went with the E46 M3 seats in my e36.
http://memimage.cardomain.com/member_images/8/web/2084000-2084999/2084000_16_full.jpg

If you wanna trade ur e31 seats for my e46 M3 seats send me an email!

I'd love some 850 seats in my e36 instead!

The guys are right when they say light racing seats are the way to go.

The weight saved if you only did the seats will not amount to a lot.
But if you do seats, batteries, headlights, spare tire, rear seats+etc, exhaust, etc., as I'm slowly doing, I believe it will make a difference when you get down around 12 lbs/HP.


You will need to ditch 700 - 750 pounds for a number like that (and that is HP @crank, not wheels).

I'm working from an initial weight of 4100, so more like 500-600 pounds.
Still not easy, but I look forward to the challenge.

The guys are right when they say light racing seats are the way to go.

The weight saved if you only did the seats will not amount to a lot.
But if you do seats, batteries, headlights, spare tire, rear seats+etc, exhaust, etc., as I'm slowly doing, I believe it will make a difference when you get down around 12 lbs/HP.
WERD!!!
well today i bought the seats and am very pleased with the condition this saterday we are going to do the swap ill try to get in some pics and let yall know how it goes, but let me speak from experince the comfort on these seats are night and day to the oem e31 seats , you know besides weight differnce i also want as comfortable car as can be had in my opinion for the $$$ these cars cost why would they cut us short on long haul .Btw 8eights i was in your hood getting these seats hehe ultimately I am cuttin of as much weight as i can "Sliming down" with out loosing style and comfort then im going to bulkup with Aminos "1 Turbo" If i have any money left.
Muhahhahaha:buttrock

You were in Palmdale?

oops i always thought it said sunnyvale lol
sunny was short for sunnyvale, n/m
DOH!

Doing the swap? I didn't think any other BMW seat would fit in the E31 mounting spots...you checked if it'll fit, or are you making modifications/custom rails?

The mechanic that im working with is doing the fab work hes swaped seats before .
He digs this shit! He says the swap is the easy part the hard part will be the seat belt mount to the roof.

You do not want these seats in your e36 one of these seats weights what 2 of your seats do give or take a pound.
Thats from me lifting them.

Bump

Hilarious..... first time I've ever seen someone bump their own thread when they weren't sellin' something :rolleyes

:)